


It's Never Just a Taste

by lalalaurentings



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Foster Care, Hades & Persephone, M/M, Pomegranates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:34:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28419183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalalaurentings/pseuds/lalalaurentings
Summary: I've chosen to go with the spirit of this prompt, rather than fulfill it word for word. I hope you enjoy!From Reylo Prompts (@reylo_prompts on Twitter):Anon: Gardener/florist Rey is increasingly frustrated that her hot neighbor Ben doesn’t notice her. When she sees him picking his pomegranates, she jokes to her friend that maybe if she steals a couple they’ll have to get married for half the year & the next day she sees three pomegranates on her porch with a note reading, “FREE”.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 25
Kudos: 232





	1. Just a Taste . . .

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic EVER. I'm super nervous about this, but also excited? I've been a reylo since the beginning (I mean, did you see that bridal carry??), but was never really online or in the fandom until I saw TROS and it tore my freaking heart out and I had to seek out others who were as crushed as I was (no, I will never recover).
> 
> I had fun writing this so, I hope you have fun reading. Anyways, here it is. Be gentle.

_Snip, snip. Sigh._ Rey Niima’s pruning shears worked to shape the flower arrangement before her in the afternoon light of her shop.

_Snip, snip. Sigh._

“Okay, what’s the matter?” Rose tilted her head with a knowing smile at Rey. Fluffing the last batch of spring bouquet on the bench, Rey heaved another dramatic sigh.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Rey said.

_Snip, snip. Sigh._

“Uh-huh. Let me guess . . . does it have to do with a certain tall, dark, and understanding someone?” Rey tried to suppress the giddy smile just thinking of Ben Solo manifested.

“Ugh, fine. Yes. I’ve been trying to get him to notice me ever since moving into the carriage house next door to him and it just isn’t working.”

“What do you mean it isn’t working? How does he react when you see each other?” Rose asked, leaning in.

“Well, he says ‘hi’ to me, but he never initiates. I’m always the one to acknowledge him first and once I try to say something, he just looks at me blankly and only says, ‘hi.’ Never asks me anything personal, rarely smiles. God, he’s so beautiful when he smiles. And I don’t think he even knows how to smile for real. He does this little smirk instead. But, damn. It’s beautiful.”

At this point, Rey had abandoned her bouquet and sagged dramatically against the bench as she pined for the myserteous and wildly uninterested Ben Solo.

“Maybe he’s shy?” Rose offered with a sly purse of her lips that Rey conveniently missed. “You could try upping your game. Have you invited him out for drinks or anything yet? Maybe bake something and offer him some—everyone loves food. That could give you an in.”

“I don’t know, maybe,” Rey said as she gently fluffed her centerpiece one more time before carrying the arrangement across the large white and black checkered tiles of Niima Outpost to the back counter for pick up.

“Well, I better get back to the office. I have a few more tweaks to the new design before I can finish up for the day. I want to be ready to pitch it to the programmers next Friday,” Rose said as she grabbed her purse.

“Good luck!” Rey called as her best friend pushed out through the glass paned front door to head a few buildings down to Rebel Tech. Rose was a total computer whiz and could take apart and rebuild a computer in an hour, blindfolded. While she was knowledgable in software, Rose was particularly adept at hardware design and even worked on computer robotics. This new project was a big chance for Rose to showcase her strengths.

With only a couple hours until close, Rey got back to work helping incoming customers select the final blooms of summer and picking out houseplants. She loved working with growing things and helping people find the perfect plant or bouquet. After a lonely childhood in the desert, Rey cherished cultivating plants and connecting with people positively—something which had taken a long time for her to learn how to do with the help of her college friends, Rose, Finn, and Poe.

When it was time to close up shop, the summer sun was still waiting to set, but there was a slight chill to the air that hinted at an autumn breeze. As a florist and avid gardener, Rey loved the changing seasons. Most people thought Spring was the only time for flowers to bloom and for plants to thrive, but that is the beauty of nature. Even during the fallow season, rebirth is happening just under the soil’s surface. Winter, the most barren time of year, actually produced some of the most stunning blooms like violas, snowdrops, and hellebores. Some of her favorite fruits and vegetables ripened in the fall and winter, as well. Rey was lucky to live where she not only saw all the four seasons, but had the luxuries of city life right next to precious green space.

As she walked around the corner and down the six blocks to her new home, Rey got lost in the cozy scene around her. The neighborhood was quieter and more residential with quaint shops and local businesses that were robust enough to afford the rent, but not so large as to require downtown space. Rey’s urban nursery was located on one of the main drags while her newly renovated carriage house was nestled a short walk away. With her patch of grass neatly cultivated to include some of her favorite flora, she was quite happy with the magical appeal of her stone cottage. Not only was it perfect for her green thumb, but her neighbor to the right had an abnormally large plot of green, overgrown land where a stately home sank into the ground with a permanence that spoke of old money and prestige. It was a family home of the Skywalkers, though no one actually lived there anymore. It was run down, but slowly being fixed up by the youngest member of the family, Ben Solo.

Ben Solo. He lived in the estate’s carriage house that sat not ten feet from her’s and was separated by the white picket fence that came in at her hip and his slightly taller black fence. The fences really did nothing more than mark the property line, because they neither kept out small animals, nor afforded much privacy. Rey was thankful for this because it meant she could easily spot Ben from her garden as he worked on his own home during the weekends or just sat on his porch reading with a tumblr of bourbon in his large, strong hand. Mmm.

Rey was entranced, not only by the property with its haunting beauty and the stunning yew tree, who’s roots were flirting with her property line, but with Ben Solo himself.

oOo

The next morning, as the sun steadily rose above the buildings and tree tops, Old Ben Kenobi was out on his back porch attached to the street facing house on the same plot as Rey’s home. Her elderly neighbor was wizened and interesting to talk to during their weekly teas. She waved as she caught his eye, bounding down her front steps.

Just as she was halfway down her walk to the low white gate that separated her patch from both Old Ben’s and the younger Ben’s yard, she saw that blow out of his own carriage house wearing his customary black. She spied him through the boughs of the yew tree, because of course she stopped to ogle him. He was moving pretty quick with that long stride of his so she busted through her gate and ran down the path that sadly laid on the opposite side of Old Ben’s house from where Ben was walking. In her haste, she missed Old Ben laughing into his morning brew at her antics.

Rey scrambled to round the front of the house to catch up as Ben made it to the street-side pavement.

“Morning, Ben!” She may have been a little too loud in her eagerness to catch his attention, but she held her bright, toothy smile with determination.

He stopped in his tracks, looking a little startled at her appearance. Or maybe he was wondering why his chatty new neighbor felt the need to talk to him this early in the morning.

“Morning, Rey,” he said in his low, mellow tones. His deep brown eyes stayed locked on hers as they started walking again. Rey knew he took the same way to work as she did since he seemed to work a few doors down from her shop. It was also the most direct path to get to any shops and restaurants he might visit on the weekend, so she was taking full advantage before she had to split off to her own job.

He wasn’t outright resisting her presence, but he was hard to read since he kept his face expressionless for the most part.

As she fell into step beside him Rey asked, “What are your plans for the day?”

“I need to head to the office for a bit,” he said.

“On a Saturday? That’s a bummer. I hope everything is going okay.”

“I don’t mind.”

Wanting to keep him talking as long as possible—because have you heard this man’s voice—Rey tries to prompt him, ”What do you do for work? I don’t think I ever asked.”

“I’m a Computer Programmer. I just recently transitioned to leading a programming team at Rebel Tech.”

Rey tried to rein herself in, but, “No way! My best friend Rose works for Rebel Tech. Maybe you know her!”

“Rose Tico?” he asks. Rey nods, eyes bright.

“Yeah, she’s handling the hardware specs on my latest project.” Okay, Rose had failed to mention _that_ minor detail. How well do they know each other? Rose is definitely in for an interrogation.

“Small world.” Rey sees her chance to follow Rose’s advice (maybe she knows more about Ben than she let on). They turn the corner and they’re almost to Niima Outpost when she dives in.

“Hey, Ben.” Rey lightly touches his arm to get him to stop just before her shop. “Maybe when you finish up at the office and I close for the evening, you’d be interested in having a drink or two with me?” She dimples up at him as his intense gaze locks onto her. “We’ve been neighbors for a couple months now and I thought—” she slows down when she sees a strange look enter his eyes that could be discomfort or even panic. Rey feels her stomach twist. She unconsciously removes her hand from his arm, his eyes tracking the movement. How quickly can she backpedal?

“I mean, Rose and I were planning on meeting some friends for drinks after the store closes and I thought you might want to join. Just some neighborly drinks. No pressure.” _Neighborly drinks, Niima? Really?_

“Oh, like a group thing?” He looks almost disappointed now as he seems to mull this over, moving his jaw around with slightly pursed lips. Damn, he’s got really plush lips. Wait, did he not like group things? Shy people don’t usually like group things. Maybe she should have stuck with just the two of them?

“Um, sure. Yes. It’d be nice to get to know you better,” Rey adds the last a bit gently as she tucks her wavy hair behind her ear. No sense completely closing that door. Maybe he’s shy, like Rose said. Especially since he now looks a little hopeful, leaning in a bit more. Until he shakes his head.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” he says.

“You wouldn’t be!” Is that her hand on his arm again? Well, at least she isn’t clutching his sleeve in her claws like the scavenger inside her wants to. “Please consider it,” Rey says, trying not to sound like she’s begging.

“Yeah, okay,” he said with a small smile. They swapped phone numbers and as he turned to head to Rebel Tech, Rey unlocked Niima Outpost as calmly as she could, then immediately went to the back room to squeal and flail around in excitement where passersby couldn’t see. It wasn’t a date, but it was a start!

oOo

August slipped away as Ben slowly became part of Rey’s circle of friends. He was quiet and reserved, but steady. He and Poe bonded over flying as they both had pilots’ licenses. Finn seemed to like Ben just fine as well, although that was a little rocky. They apparently had crossed paths at their previous jobs with First Order and it was a sore spot. After a conversation between the two down the bar from the rest, everything seemed to balance out.

Rose had grown fairly close with Ben since they were working more hours together on that new project. It was cute how he treated her like a little sister. Well it was cute now that Rey understood their relationship clearly. Rey was a little worried at first that he might have feelings for Rose, but Rose had been very clear with Rey that neither Ben nor Rose felt that way. They were definitely becoming close friends, but Rose had feelings for one Armitage Hux on Rebel Tech’s design team. Soon after that conversation, Hux began making a regular appearance at happy hour and Rey was able to see things without a green haze of jealousy clouding her judgement.

And unsurprisingly, Rey seemed to become more enamored with him in the month since she invited him to drinks. It would have been a little worrying how possessive she was becoming of Ben, considering they weren’t even dating, if Rey took a moment to reflect. She didn’t like it when other women tried to touch his arm or lean against him when they went for drinks with the crew. Ben usually extricated himself quickly, which was good because Rey always got the urge to simultaneously rip the offending woman’s hair out and sob in a corner when she saw that. That feeling must have showed on her face because Ben would keep his eyes on her and scoot closer as soon as he separated himself from the hopefuls.

After one such incident at their Friday happy hour, Ben had gone to the bathroom and Finn slid into the booth next to Rey.

“Hey, Peanut,” Finn started.

“Here we go. Big brother Finn, incoming,” Rose said across the table from them. She had fully supported Rey in her crush (okay, it may be bordering on obsession at this point), but Finn was a little wary of Ben still.

“How do you know what I’m going to say? I could just be coming over to ask Rey about how to care for my new monstera adansonii,” Finn said with a bit of affront.

“Did you look that up before you came over here?” Rose shot back.

“Maybe . . . Ugh, whatever. I am here to have a big brother talk. Sue me.” Finn did a shooing motion to Rose and turned to Rey.

"Look, I’m only saying this because I care. I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing, Peanut,” Finn defended himself.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Rey mumbled, looking away as she sipped her gin and tonic.

“Okay, pretend all you want, but you stare at Solo with heart eyes that could be seen from space. If you really like him, okay. Just, be careful.”

Rey whipped her head back to Finn at that. “What do you mean by that? He’s a great guy, he’s just a little intense and reserved,” she said, jumping to Ben’s defense. “And I thought you two patched things up from the issues you both had at your previous jobs?”

“We did, he’s a lot better now and that’s great. I just want to make sure you’re careful. He can have a serious temper sometimes and the way he looks at you is really intense. Can you blame me for looking out for you?” Finn looked a little pouty now.

“No,” Rey sighed. “I can’t fault you for that. Thank you, Finn, for always looking out for me. I’ll be careful, but I also know that Ben would never hurt me. I may not know everything about him, but I do know that. He isn’t a danger to me,” Rey reassured Finn. With a sweet side hug in their booth, the two felt reassured.

“Now, how does Ben look at me again?” Rey asked, not entirely joking. 

“Of course that’s the part you heard in all of that,” Finn laughed.

Even with those little signs from Ben and what her friends said as observers, nothing romantic had really developed between her and Ben. Sure, they walked to work together nearly every day now and she had learned more about his past with First Order, Rebel Tech’s nefarious competitor, and she had told him bits and pieces about her more recent past in college and building Niima Outpost, but she just had a taste of him, when she wanted to consume him whole. Even with all this progress, Rey was still dissatisfied and unsure if Ben would ever see her the way she saw him.

After a childhood of never being enough, of never being chosen, she supposed it was only natural to expect the same again. Why would this time be different? Why would someone as beautiful as Ben, choose her?


	2. . . . Is Never Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben still hasn't made his feelings clear, leaving Rey frustrated and needing a girls' night in to vent. An overheard conversation and an offering of seeds later . . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I originally had this at 3 chapters, but I thought, nah. Let's get to it. Hope you enjoy!

It was nearing October and the sunlight added a golden tint to the world as Rey closed up shop late one Saturday. Rose had met her thirty minutes ago to help close up in preparation for a girls’ night in at Rey’s place. Wine and whining were on the schedule as both women were pining hard for their respective crushes, with no movement from the other party at this stage.

They chatted aimlessly as their heeled boots clacked against the pavement, stopping in the corner store for necessities.

“I can’t decide, should we do . . . coconut Talenti, Urban Bourbon, or a classic cookie dough?” Rey asked, turning to Rose. Rose just raised her eyebrows at the question.

“Yeah, what am I saying. Better get all of them,” Rey responded. The ladies left with shopping bags full of candy, ice cream, and wine. They nearly cleared the shelves, to be honest.

“God, I’m so glad we’re doing this. I need to complain about my lack of a love life,” Rey sighed.

“Still nothing from Ben?”

“I think he definitely likes me as a friend, but he doesn’t seem that interested in anything beyond that. I mean, he’s a pretty intense guy. If he were interested, wouldn’t he have done something about it by now?”

“I mean, maybe. He definitely is intense, but from what I’ve seen at work, I think he keeps a lot of his thoughts and feelings inside,” Rose commented. “I wouldn’t give up just yet. It’s only been a few weeks since he started hanging out with us and that’s a pretty big step for him, I think. I remember when he first started at Rebel Tech. He ate lunch alone and didn’t really socialize.” They turn to go up the walk beside Old Ben’s house.

“Really? I don’t know, I’m just worried I’m pining for someone who is never going to give me a second—” Rey almost dropped her bag of goodies in utter shock.

Just over the black fence, Rey saw Ben in his yard chopping some firewood from the small diseased tree he had to take out of his front yard earlier that day. Sure, he had mentioned it yesterday evening during drinks with their friend group, but _oh my god_. This was not what she had imagined.

Rey is utterly captivated by the sight of the massive 6 foot 2 man swinging an axe with practiced ease. In a tank top. His pale skin had a healthy summer glow was set off by the black he wore and his defined muscles rippled with each move he made. Was she drooling?

“Oh my god,” Rey whispered to Rose. “I think I need to change my panties.” Rose cackled and pushed Rey around the corner of the front house’s back porch where Rey had frozen. Just as they reached Rey’s white gate, Ben tucked a few logs under his right arm and grabbed the handle of a large basket that had been sitting nearby. The whicker was nearly overflowing with pomegranates from the shrub that bordered the front porch of his carriage house.

“Hey, Ben!” Rose called. Rey was still dazed and made an incoherent gurgle by way of hello that she hoped to god he didn’t actually hear.

Ben’s head snapped over to the ladies as they walked up the path to the porch steps. His response was a ridiculously sexy nod. Goddammit, how the hell was she supposed to traverse the uneven pavers and wooden steps of her home with him looking that good?

She somehow managed to give him her brilliant, toothy smile at the last minute before she turned back to the house. Over the thunks of their shoes against the wooden porch boards, Rey muttered, “If I eat one of his pomegranates, does that mean I’m his wife and queen of the underworld?”

Rose just snickers at Rey’s nonsense whispering, “You wish!”

With a sigh Rey says, “I do. I really do.”

oOo

That evening, hours after the sun had gone down, Rey and Rose were sprawled on the living room floor with sheet masks on and surrounded by popcorn mixed with dark chocolate chips, gummy worms, a couple empty wine bottles, and a savaged pizza box.

“Ugh, Rose. I think I’m actually in love with him. What am I going to do?”

“I’ll tell you what you’re gonna do.” Rose got on her knees on the couch, her wine precariously sloshing in its glass and the recently added straw—drinking in a sheet mask is _hard_ —swirling around the rim. “You’re gonna march right up to him, yank him down by the collar and kiss him. Kiss the crap out of him! Just grab him by that ginger hair and show him what he’s missing.”

“You mean black hair.”

“What?”

“You said ginger. Are you planning to ambush your uptight UI developer?” Rey asked with an attempted smirk followed by, “Oh shit!” Rey quickly slapped her hands to her face as she tried to keep the hydrating sheet mask from slipping off.

The only thing that stopped Rose cackling and pointing at Rey’s mishap was her timer going off. After they massaged the residue from the masks into their skin, Rose went to open the living room windows while Rey opened their next bottle of cab.

“For real, though. You should just kiss him next time you see him,” Rose affirmed with her head sticking out the window and her eyes closed to the breeze that ruffled her hair and the fiddle leaf fig potted nearby. She said it like it was the most obvious, easiest thing in the world.

“What the hell are you on about? Is that your brilliant plan with Hux?”

“Maybe! Armie is so formal sometimes, I just want to mess up his hair and kiss him until he sees stars. And reason. That reason being he needs to marry me and give me babies.” They stopped moving around to stare at each other seriously for a second, then burst out laughing.

“Cheers to that!” Rey handed Rose a _very_ full glass of cabernet to gently clink against. They dissolved into giggles as they carefully slurped and settle into the couch again.

Rey tore into a sour gummy that perfectly complimented her red wine when Rose said, “So what’s your game plan with Ben?”

“I dough eveben know,” she said around a bulging mouth of candy.

“Try not to choke,” Rose chided mildly while getting a fistful of chocolate covered almonds.

“I’m a pro—I’ve got this,” Rey said after a huge swallow. “Anyways, I’m afraid of coming on too strong. I don’t know, that first time he came to happy hour?” Rose nodded and munched along. “I was actually asking him out to drinks just the two of us. Trying to make a sort of date thing, but as soon as I mentioned it he got this look on his face.”

“What kind of look? Wait, was this when you had us meet up that Saturday last minute for drinks a while back?” Rey pointed her Twizzler at Rose with a nod since her mouth was full of sour gummies again.

“Aw, I was wondering about that. We always meet up on Fridays,” Rose said. “But what do you mean he got a look? You think he wasn’t interested in getting to know you one on one? Like even as a platonic, neighborly thing?”

“Oh my god, that’s what I said!”

“Wait, you asked him if he wasn’t interested?”

“No, when he got that weird look I backtracked and said something about how it would be a neighborly drink or something dumb. I was so mortified. Maybe I came on too strong. I basically stalked him so I could time my walk to work with him.”

“Wow, you really do like him. Oh my god! Like how last night, he held his hand out to help you down from your stool! Don’t think I didn’t see that, Rey Niima. You, Miss Independent, Miss Stop-taking-my-hand—"

“God, will Finn ever let that go? I just don’t like people I don’t know well touching me. It was like, seven years ago,” Rey cut in.

“ _Anyways_ ,” Rose said, getting louder than Rey. “You, missy, took his hand and I swear to god you held on for like a full minute.”

Rey sighed with a dopey smile she tried to hide behind her whine glass. “I know. I would‘ve held that hand all night if it wouldn’t have weirded him out. I just love his hands,” Rey said as she lifted her own hands to stare at her palms. “They’re so . . . big. And strong . . . He’s just so _massive_.”

“I think you should follow my lead. Just grab him by the ears and lay it on him,” Rose said in a big sister tone.

“Rose, I’d give him a heart attack. When I mentioned getting drinks together he got this look of panic in his eyes. I’m probably not his type at all. And I don’t want to scare him off and ruin our friendship that we’re building.”

“No, I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He’s intense and reserved, but he’s clearly into you. Trust me, I’ve been spending a lot more time with Benny recently and I like to think I’m the little sister he never had. He’d been into it. Like _really_ into it,” Rose reasoned.

“Maybe I should just ask him to feed me one of his pomegranates,” Rey said with a little laugh.

oOo

As the women in the stone cottage continued on to other important topics, like which ice cream flavor they should start with and if they should watch one of the new k-dramas on Netflix, or more _Brooklyn 99_ episodes, they were blissfully unaware of the dark figure sipping bourbon on his front porch, not ten feet from the open windows.

When they had been tromping into Rey’s home earlier that evening, the porch had magnified their muttering perfectly to project it across the fence to Ben’s ears. What he had thought was simple teasing, turned out to be more honest than he could have hopped.

Ben had always felt deeply. So deeply that he didn’t know how to deal with it all some times. He’d grown past that for the most part. With years of therapy addressing the emotional neglect he felt growing up and improving his anger issues, Ben was proud to reflect that he was much better at communicating his thoughts and feelings in a level-headed manner rather than bottling them up until they exploded.

Or so he thought. Perhaps, he needed to practice communicating some of his softer emotions . . . and he had the perfect way to get started.

Huffing a small laugh, Ben tipped his glass and drank down the remainder of his liquor with a twinkle in his eye and hope in his heart.

oOo

Rey groaned and stretched in the mid-morning sunlight streaming in through her bedroom curtains. Rose left a little earlier since she was supposed to meet her sister, Paige, for their weekly Sunday brunch. Content with enjoying her slow morning, Rey sauntered sleepily to the kitchen to start the coffee while she showered. Maybe it was the girls’ night, maybe it was the euphoric feeling of having employees she trusted to take care of her shop, but Rey was feeling thankful for the life she had built for herself.

It’s was nice to finally own her own business. It had been such a long road through foster care, putting herself through school on scholarship and working a couple part-time jobs. After working for nearly four years as an accountant (which, she hated every minute of) and living in a shitty apartment and rarely allowing herself any extra cash to spend on extravagant things like avocado toast and more than one drink at happy hour. After building her florist brand on instagram using the flowers she grew herself and showcasing her overwhelming number of plants that covered her previous apartment inside and out.

After all of that, she finally took the leap and set up a store front for her business. The owner of her building, Maz, had been a mentor to Rey while she was in business school. Niima Outpost, her home, her friends, Maz, and now Old Ben. She had so much to be grateful for. If only a certain tall, dark, and understanding someone would make a move before she lost hope.

After shaving, washing, and moisturizing (that was an adult luxury she hadn’t known about until she met Rose freshman year of college), Rey put on some joggers and a cropped henley to go sit on her porch and sip coffee.

Settling into her rocker that faced toward Ben’s place—is it her fault that she just liked to look in his direction, knowing he might be over there now?—Rey tucked her feet up on her seat and sipped her lightly creamed caffeine.

She nearly spilled it on herself when Ben emerged moments later with that, now empty, wicker basket from yesterday. He was in a black t-shirt that stretched beautifully over his wide chest and muscular arms. His jeans were dark and tucked into casual boots. _How does he always look so good?_

Stopping at the top of his steps, he set the basket down on his porch then reached over to one of the few remaining pomegranates that hung from the shrub that grew up against his house. With long, dexterous fingers, he gently clutched the ripe fruit and plucked it with a twist of his wrist that made her throb in certain places.

“Fuck,” Rey breathed out. How could a person be that . . . indecent while picking fruit? It felt like she was on drugs that made her head spin and everything feel slow. It was like she could taste him just by looking at him.

She jolted out of her inappropriate trance and sipped more coffee to try to chill the hell out before he noticed her being creepy. Ben, meanwhile, was coming down his stone path and, dear god, was headed her way across his patch of grass.

“Morning, Rey,” Ben rumbled from across the way. He tossed the deep red fruit from his right hand to his left, and back again. So casual and cool like a brisk autumn breeze. Ben may have been reserved and at times his shyness could seem slightly awkward when he first met someone, but by god that man could be effortlessly smooth and confident when he was comfortable.

Unfurling from her rocking chair, Rey clasped her mug in one hand with her four fingers through the handle so her palm was warmed by the ceramic. As casually, and elegantly as possible (Rey tried not to laugh at herself trying to be elegant of all things, because she was far from polished), she brushed by some of her potted plants and leaned against one of the porch pillars that bracketed the steps with her hip cocked a little.

“Morning, Ben.” She took a calm sip of coffee and smiled softly at him. Oh yeah, she was smooth. She was so cool and collected. 

He made his way to the fence line and rested his strong arms against the top. With the pomegranate in his right hand he lifted his left hand a little and beckoned her over with a twitch of his first two fingers. _Oh my god, I felt that in my lady bits,_ Rey thought in a haze of surreal pleasure.

Ben’s gaze was intense as she set her coffee down on the little table by her chair and walked barefoot through her profusion of flora toward him. Past the garnet mums and the orange dahlias, past the goldenrod that gently brushed against her shins, past the shrubs of witch hazel that were starting to grow strong as the weather turned cool. There was something in his eyes that Rey had caught glimpses of, something that had always been there in the background. But now it was awake as they stood under the shade of the young yew tree.

“Yes, Ben?” Rey asked gently, staring up into his eyes as she moved even closer to where they were just starting to breathe the same air. She tilted her head, mesmerized by his beautiful, deep eyes.

In response, his left hand reached into his front pocket where he grasped a small knife and flicked it open with practiced ease. Ben cut into the pomegranate, juice gushing over his right hand. Flicking the knife closed, he tossed the sticky tool aside and reached into the exposed flesh of the fruit, extracting a few seeds.

Ben’s gaze honed in on her in a way that she felt in her innermost being. He held his hand out on level with her watering mouth in offering and benediction. It was like she had seen this in a dream. This insecurity she was wrestling with over his feelings toward her were foolish. How had she missed it? She knew him and he knew her.

“Join me for breakfast?” He murmured just before Rey closed the distance between her lips and his juice coated fingers.

She scraped her teeth gently against him as she sucked the seeds, and the juice with it, into her mouth, eyes boring into his. _I guess I have my answer then,_ she thought as the seeds burst in tart explosions with a sweet undertone. Her eyes may have fluttered shut for a moment, but she snapped them open, wanting to commit him to memory. Looking at him was like staring into the sea at night—otherworldly, mysterious, and deep. But this is a sea she knew and she was ready to dive down into its current.

When she swallowed, Ben’s smile was stunning. His eyes sparkled in triumph and pure love. It couldn’t be anything else. Rey couldn’t help but return his smile with her own as she dipped her fingers into the fruit and fed him a few seeds in return.

“What’s for breakfast then?” she asked once he had cleaned her fingers, gripping her left wrist in his massive paw. He just smiled as she climbed her white fence. Ben tossed the pomegranate aside while she used his right shoulder for balance and he guided her with his left hand still on her right wrist. Once she cleared the low fences, Ben reeled her in and it was so natural for her to rise up on her bare feet, cup his face, and kiss him. She gently rubbed his ear under his hair as they deepened their kiss.

When they pulled apart, they shared a quiet laugh of joy. Ben took her hand in his and led her up the steps to his home.

“I thought we could start off with some pancakes and bacon. Maybe a veggie omelet to go with it. And toast with avocado and tomato. Oh, and maybe some more pomegranate seeds,” Ben quirked an eyebrow at Rey as she laughed. He clearly knew that with her, it’s never just a taste. No, a taste would never be enough.

“I’ll start the coffee then,” Rey replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! 
> 
> As I mentioned, this is my first ever fanfic - and first time ever sharing my writing that wasn't school related - so, if you could drop a kudos if you enjoyed or even leave a comment, I would literally float with happiness. 
> 
> I do plan on writing more reylo fics so, if you're interested you can follow me on Twitter (@lalalaurentings) and tumblr (reyloonmymind).
> 
> Also, Happy New Year!! Wear your mask, wash your hands, and stay safe. xo

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!
> 
> What do you think so far?


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